Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance / Characters

Mortal Kombat Main Character Index
Original and Reboot Timeline: MK (1992) | MK2 | MK3 | MK4 | Deadly Alliance | Deception | Armageddon | MK vs. DC Universe | MK9 | MKX | MK11
The New Era: MK1
Spin-offs: Mythologies: Sub-Zero | Special Forces
Non-video game: The Movie | Conquest | Defenders of the Realm | 2021 Movie
Individual Characters: Scorpion I (Hanzo Hasashi) | Sub-Zero I/Noob Saibot (Bi-Han) | Johnny Cage | Liu Kang | Raiden | Shang Tsung | Sub-Zero II/Scorpion II (Kuai Liang) | Kitana | Mileena | Shao Kahn/General Shao | Quan Chi

Spoilers for the original timeline before DA will be unmarked

Here, we're going to list the characters introduced in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition.

Sareena (who debuted Fighting Game-wise in Tournament Edition) can be found in the Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero sheet.

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Bo' Rai Cho

"You embarrass yourself!"

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (Richard Divizio)

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat: Deception (Carlos Pesina), Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Carlos Pesina), Mortal Kombat X (DLC) (Steve Blum, English; Sebastián Llapur, Latin American Spanish)

This fat, alcoholic, flatulent Outworld denizen is renowned as a martial arts master of incredible ability. Not only was it suspected that he brought Drunken Boxing to Earthrealm, he trained renowned heroes, including Shujinko and Liu Kang. As he was from Outworld, he could not participate in Mortal Kombat himself because he would win in the name of Shao Kahn. After Liu Kang won the first tournament, he retired. But Liu Kang's death and the rise of the Deadly Alliance prompted the old master to take up arms, joining Raiden's forces and training Kung Lao.

After the Deadly Alliance's defeat and the resurrection of Onaga, he rescued Li Mei from having her soul transferred and rejoined the remaining kombatants to fight Onaga, and would join the Battle of Armageddon.

In the rebooted timeline, Bo Rai Cho still plays a role, but more of a mentor than an actual combatant. In the prequel comics for Mortal Kombat X, he is seen rescuing Sub-Zero after finding him bleeding to death after battling Scorpion, and even sent Kung Jin on a yet-to-be-revealed mission, remarking about how he would make an excellent Shaolin. In the games proper, he meets with Raiden, troubled by recent events. He is then captured and tortured by Shinnok and the revenants to near death. Though Shinnok stated that his wounds were fatal, Bo Rai Cho's fate after Mortal Kombat X is currently unknown.

Acrofatic: In fact, he uses Sumo as one of his fighting styles in Deception.
- Emphasized more in X. His basic moves and combos are fluid and graceful, putting his mastery of the Drunken Fist and Jojutsu styles to good use.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: If Kano is to believed, dialogue with Fujin in 11 indicates Bo Rai Cho visits random Earthrealm bars and leaves without paying.
The Alcoholic: He even carries a gourd with him so that he can take a swig of his drink as a victory celebration.
Been There, Shaped History: Since he frequently travels between his native Outworld and Earthrealm to offer his teachings to others, he's responsible for the creation or refining of several Real Life martial arts. For example, after he was defeated by Miyamoto Musashi, Bo' Rai Cho would help Muso Gonnosuke improve his jujutsu by using a four-section staff instead of a six-section one. It's even speculated that he was the one who brought the fighting style of Drunken Boxing to Earthrealm.
Belly Flop Crushing: His Fatality in Deadly Alliance, which later becomes a Brutality in X.
Berserk Button: Cho doesn't appreciate cracks about his weight if his intro dialogues with Johnny in X are anything to go by.
Beware the Silly Ones: For a rotund alcoholic whose fighting identity is most associated with farting and puking, he's nonetheless a damn good kombatant with plenty of other means to kick your ass with. Interestingly (and perhaps even more amusingly), he himself is a rather straightforward and dignified mentor who many generally respect, seemingly ignoring the aforementioned farts and puke.
Big Beautiful Man: Despite being a slob, he generally gets no complaints on his looks from anyone In-Universe. (Apart from Johnny Cage, who is fond of making cheap fat jokes at his expense.)
Big Damn Heroes: Saves Li Mei from the Deadly Alliance.
Breath Weapon: One of his Deception Fatalities is to breathe a stream of burning alcohol at his foe.
Brown Note: One Brutality in X has him simply vomit on the opponent. The disgusted victim blows chunks too, but violently and uncontrollably. Eventually they keel over and die from the internal trauma.
Call-Back: Both of his fatalities in MKX start the same way - with Bo Rai Cho forcing his flask into his opponent's mouth - but with different outcomes (Either they take in the sake and explode from Bo's match, or they vomit up their digestive innards). This is a possible throwback to how in Deception, his fatalities started out similarly (raising either his flask and torch, or just his torch), but burns his opponent in different ways (either spitting sake into the fire and the victim, or farting into the fire and the victim).
The Cameo: Mentioned a few times in 9 and actually appears in Kung Lao and Shang Tsung's endings.
Cane Fu: Bo' Rai Cho uses a cane as a weapon in all his appearances. One of his stances in X emphasizes using it and is even called "Bartitsu".
Cool Old Guy: He serves as an Eccentric Mentor to Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Li Mei and is an old friend of Raiden willing to assist in the protection of realms.
Downloadable Content: He is part of MKX's Kombat Pack 2.
Drunken Boxing: He invented this fighting style.
Eccentric Mentor: Who'd have thought that a constantly drunk, fat man who attacks by farting and vomiting would be the mentor to the heroes?
The Emperor: Should there be a Tanya Mirror Match in MK1, it's possible for one of them to hail from a timeline where Bo' Rai Cho is Emperor of Outworld instead of Sindel or Mileena.
Fun with Homophones: Bo' Rai Cho is homophone with borracho, which means "drunkard" in Spanish.
Gargle Blaster: Both his Fatalities in MKX involve with one; the first follows with him setting his opponent on fire with a match, and the other stepping on his opponent's gut to make them throw up their innards.
Fartillery: In one of his fatalities, he ignites one of his farts, burning the opponent to a crisp. MKX expands on this "gift" by making his flammable, toxic farts an integral part of his fighting style.
"Oooh, that's a stinky one!"
Gasshole: To the point that he randomly passes wind while changing weapon styles, taunting, and moving around in general. He even rises to his feet in Deception by creating a jetstream of gas.
Hammerspace: He pulls his staff from nowhere in the DA-D-A trilogy, but averts it by keeping it on his person for his Bartitsu variation in MKX.
Informed Ability: He taught Liu Kang the "Flying Kick" and Kung Lao the "Whirlwind Kick". Neither of these techniques are part of his moveset in any of his playable appearances. In fact, nothing about Cho's fighting style is reflected in any of the characters he has canonically trained.
Insult to Rocks: In X he takes particular offense to one of Johnny's jokes at his expense.
Bo' Rai Cho: You degrade both me and pregnant whales!
Libation for the Dead:
- In XL, should he finish his opponent with a Brutality, he'll pour some of his drink on the ground for them.
- Turns into a Compliment Backfire if performing the Brutality that sets their head ablaze. He will take a few steps back as they fall, then pour his sake into the still flaming skull. Oops!
Martial Arts Staff: His weapon is a four-foot jō staff. (The Konquest Mode of Deadly Alliance claims that he aided the samurai Muso Gonnosuke in developing the fighting style associated with this weapon.)
Meaningful Name: His name is composed of a series of vaguely Chinese sounds. This would turn out to be the cleverest name in the series, being a pun on Spanish for drunk, "borracho." Spannese is the high watermark.
The Mentor: It's stated that he prefers to train students instead of directly applying his fighting skills. This is partially because he's a native of Outworld, thus meaning that if he were to win a Mortal Kombat tournament, he'd be sealing Earthrealm's fate instead of saving it. Three of his students are characters in the franchise: Kung Lao, Li Mei, and Liu Kang. In his arcade ladder ending he becomes mentor to Outworld's fighters to save the realm from the now aggressor Raiden.
Mr. Fanservice: Surprised? Don't you remember his alternate costume in Deadly Alliance? They even added the same Jiggle Physics used on female characters' breasts solely on his belly.
Old Master: He's unspeakably old as an Outworlder and a good friend of the Thunder God Raiden, in addition to training numerous people with his fighting expertise over the centuries.
Physical God: He becomes a god in his non-canon ending to Armageddon.
Punny Name: His name is a play on the word "Boracho", which means drunk in Spanish.
Precision F-Strike: He is the one who provides one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous one-liners in one intro dialogue with the Predator in X.
You are one ugly motherfucker!
Remember the New Guy?: Cho is credited as being the one who taught Liu Kang the moves he used to defeat Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat tournament. However, Cho was never seen nor mentioned in the games prior to Deadly Alliance and there was no mention of Liu Kang seeking training from an Outlworlder in any of the prior games.
- This is partially justified by the fact that Bo' Rai Cho couldn't participate in any of the previous tournaments, since his status as an Outworlder makes him ineligible to represent Earthrealm. Liu Kang had long since completed his training under Bo' Rai Cho by the time that he entered the Mortal Kombat tournaments and was a master martial artist in his own right.
Shockwave Stomp: His Ground Stomp special.
Samurai Ponytail: All of his appearances have him wear his hair in a top-knot ponytail.
Stance System: He has Drunken Master in each of his appearances. In Deadly Alliance he has Mi Zong, which is replaced by Sumo in Deception.
Time Abyss: He's long lived enough to be an old friend of Raiden and has developed numerous fighting styles that date back centuries in Earthrealm.
Token Heroic Orc: He and Li Mei are the only consistently heroic Outworlders.
Toilet Humor: For all the talk of his genuine skill and mentorship, Bo' Rai Cho's goofy fart and puke-based attacks are part of his signature identity. X tones these down a bit to emphasize his martial art skills, but it sure isn't leaving anytime soon.
Trademark Favorite Food: Rice wine (also known as sake).
Vomit Indiscretion Shot: As an attack.
Walking Shirtless Scene: His alternate costume in Deadly Alliance.
What Happened to the Mouse?: After Shinnok's attack on the Jinsei in Mortal Kombat X's penultimate chapter, he's left wounded to an unknown extent, and completely forgotten about in the ending. Character dialogue seems to constantly zigzag this, and none are confirmed canon; some characters remark that he survived Shinnok's attack. Bo' Rai Cho himself even implies that he could have really been killed, but was brought back to life. It's hard to say if he's bluffing or not, provided that he is still alive to begin with.
We Used to Be Friends: Bo' Rai Cho severs his friendship with Raiden after hearing that the thunder god launched a surprise invasion of Outworld in his X arcade ending.

Drahmin

"Welcome to Hell!"

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Drahmin was an Oni Tormentor wandering the 5th plane of the Neatherrealm looking for souls to torment. Alongside Moloch, he pledged service to Quan Chi when they encountered each other. With Drahmin's help, Quan Chi was able to locate and activate a portal that led them to escape, but in the ensuing chaos when Scorpion showed up, Quan Chi and the Oni duo were separated.

What happened after Drahmin and Moloch escaped Shang Tsung's palace was unknown, but Drahmin eventually found his way back to the Neatherrealm, where he was soundly defeated by a wandering Taven.

He makes an appearance in the Mortal Kombat X prequel comics, where he tried to capture Scorpion for Quan Chi. He fails, and is promptly executed by the sorceror for his failure, in a rather brutal fashion, to boot.

Cool Mask: Which he removes while switching styles.
The Faceless: In a way even though he could take off his mask, underneath it he literally doesn't have a face due to his lack of skin.
Fan Disservice: Unless hideous, mostly-naked masked creatures with a spiked club for a forearm and stench so awful flies swarm around it are your thing, then...yaaaaay.
Flies Equals Evil: He is constantly surrounded by a swarm of "rot flies" which he can command to attack his opponent in battle.
I'm a Humanitarian: Same deal as Moloch.
Monster Modesty: He really should cover up more...
Our Demons Are Different: He's a Netherrealm oni who used to be a human warlord before being turned into one, but otherwise seems relatively human other than his hideous appearance.
Red Baron: The Oni Tormentor.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Humorously, he is a red oni that serves as the blue to the blue Moloch's red, being far more precise in his violence and using torture.
Restraining Bolt: His mask keeps him from going berserk and using Oni style instead of Netherrealm. He doesn't take it off when you switch styles, though, and his alternate costume lets you use Netherrealm.
Revenge: See Moloch's entry.
Shoryuken: His Super Uppercut special, delivered via his iron club-encased right arm. Ouch...
Small Name, Big Ego:
- When Quan Chi makes it clear he is going to die for failing to recapture Scorpion in the comics, he claims Quan Chi needs him as he is apparently the greatest torturer in the Netherrealm. As Quan Chi puts it while promptly vaporizing him:
  Quan Chi: I WOULD TRADE A THOUSAND OF YOU FOR ONE HANZO HASASHI!
- In another timeline, Drahmin escaped the Netherrealm and beelined straight toward Shao Kahn, somehow believing the Emperor of Outworld will take him in as an enforcer if he swears fealty to him. Shao Kahn's response is to simply kill him on the spot.
Spikes of Villainy: In his alt.
Spin Attack: His Propeller Clock special has Drahmin swinging his arms around like a windmill.
Stance System: In Deadly Alliance his stances are called Netherrealm and Oni. They are both replaced by Hung Gar in Armageddon.
Underwear of Power: Wears nothing but a pair of black briefs on his emaciated body. His alternate costume has him swap them for more covering bandages.
Walking Shirtless Scene: Ugh.
Was Once a Man:
- Originally, he was a human warlord before becoming an oni after being tortured in the Netherrealm.
- His non-canon ending in DA implies that he became a higher being like Quan Chi after entering the inner sanctum located in Quan Chi's fortress.
Your Soul Is Mine!: In X, this is what happens to him for his failure in recapturing Scorpion at the hands of Quan Chi. In the Krypt of 11, you can find Drahmin's oni mask, with a tidbit of lore stating that Shao Kahn killed and devoured his soul instead.

Frost

”The Lin Kuei will be mine!”

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (Christine Rios)
Other appearances: Mortal Kombat: Unchained (Christine Rios), Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Christine Rios), Mortal Kombat X (Kelly Hu, English; Carla Castañeda, Latin American Spanish, non-playable), Mortal Kombat 11 (Sara Cravens, English; Carla Castañeda, Latin American Spanish; Sydney Card, face model), Mortal Kombat 1 (Kameo)

After Sub-Zero became the new Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei, he began looking for new students. One of these students is Frost, who also had ice powers. Sub-Zero took her in as his protégé and began training her, but as she grew in strength, she also grew in arrogance. She, alongside her sifu, joined the battle against the Deadly Alliance, but she did not get along with the others, most especially Sonya.

Once in Outworld, Frost immediately betrayed Sub-Zero, aspiring to become Grandmaster herself. The power of the Dragon Amulet that granted Sub-Zero his status, however, proved too powerful for her and froze her to death. She was laid to rest by Sub-Zero in a Cryomancer temple in Outworld, which revealed that both Sub-Zero and Frost are descended from these ice wielders. She awoke some time afterwards and returned to the Lin Kuei temple awaiting Sub-Zero's return with the intent of killing him. With a hint of insanity in her, she was no match for her former sifu and was promptly frozen again, only to be freed by an unsuspecting Taven on his quest. She escaped, still in a delirium, and joined the Battle of Armageddon with only one goal: killing Sub-Zero.

In the rebooted timeline, Frost has different ties to the Lin Kuei. At some point between MK9 and MKX, she is an underground fighter that takes part in deathmatches, racking up a high body count. At the end of issue 4 of the Mortal Kombat X comic, her opponent is Cassie Cage, who almost kills Frost but their fight is interrupted before the final blow is struck. She eventually joins up with the Lin Kuei and makes a proper cameo in the game as one of Sub-Zero's disciples.

In 11, Frost once again becomes a playable character. However, she does so in the form of a cyborg, having betrayed Sub-Zero to side with Kronika. In the New Era Kronika promises, Frost will be the rightful grandmaster of the Lin Kuei and no one will ever disrespect her again. To become strong enough to best her mentor, Frost allows Kronika to rebuild her body with the same Magitek used to create the golem warrior Geras.

Tropes related with Frost (human)

Amazon Brigade: In the MKX timeline, during their intro conversation, Sonya wrongly assumes and asks Sub-Zero why there are no women among the Lin Kuei ranks. Kuai Liang corrects her saying there are female warriors in the Lin Kuei, at least in his newly formed regime, and that Frost chiefs over them.
Ambition Is Evil: So much that she outwardly boasts about it. Her greatest ambition throughout the series is to usurp control of the Lin Kuei from Sub-Zero and she resorts to increasingly extreme measures to achieve this.
An Ice Person: A cryomancer like Sub-Zero.
An Ice Suit: Shows a bit more skin than the male ninja variant, but still modest for a female Cyromancer.
Anime Hair: Lampshaded in DA, which states that she uses a brand of hair gel called Arctic Hold◊ to keep her hairdo intact.
A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: She was originally Sub-Zero's protégé, but she turns on him in both continuities due to her endless arrogance and lust for power.
Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy:
- Sub-Zero hoped that his tutelage would teach Frost humility. As her skills increased, so did her arrogance and haughtiness, even towards her sifu. This is part of the reason she came to butt heads with Sonya.
- Shows this attitude again in the Mortal Kombat X comics, towards Cassie Cage. This leads to her defeat. 11 cranks up her arrogance even further, to the point that she makes pre-Character Development Johnny Cage look like a Humble Hero in comparison.
Berserk Button: She only raises her voice when 1: Noob Saibot makes a sexist comment and 2: people misname her, such as calling her "Frosty" or "Elsa".
Blue Means Cold: She's Sub-Zero's pupil and has ice powers like him. She also wears blue clothes.
Boyish Short Hair: Her 'do started out as spiky Anime Hair, but by MK11, she's flattened it out into a pixie cut, perhaps to demonstrate her new status as a high-ranking enforcer of Kronika.
Breakout Character: She's arguably the second most popular new character from Deadly Alliance after Kenshi. Though unplayable, she played a small yet significant role in MKX before being Promoted to Playable in 11 (with a sweet new cyborg upgrade). This is quite ironic because the Midway developers themselves commented that, when Frost's design was first revealed before Deadly Alliance released, she was incredibly unpopular among a vocal minority of fans; they apparently didn't take well to the idea of a "female Sub-Zero" (early internet fandoms could be weirdly petty like that). Yet, she instantly became a fan-favorite upon the release of the game.
Broken Pedestal: Bi-Han used to be her personal hero, but upon learning that he wouldn't allow female Lin Kuei if he was Grandmaster, she immediately renounces her respect for him, exclaiming that he's worse than Kuai Liang.
Curtains Match the Window: Has icy blue eyes to match her bluish-white hair.
Dark Action Girl: Even when under Sub Zero's teachings, she was always a Hot-Blooded Jerkass. She became a full-fledged villain upon breaking off of him.
Deceptive Disciple: To Sub-Zero. His reason for keeping her around is to try and redeem her, but this seems less likely with each subsequent game. By MK11, Sub-Zero has completely given up on her.
Distaff Counterpart: She's pretty much a female Sub-Zero. Given that he was her master, justified. Don't remind her of it, though. Jacqui Briggs found out the hard way.
- She takes the Ken route in regards to Sub-Zero: more speed, less power.
Easily Forgiven: By Sub-Zero. He blames all of her actions against him as a reflection of his failure as her mentor.
Elemental Hair Composition: Her hair looks like icicles and emits cold air, in most versions, such as in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, where it's light blue with white tips, and emits clouds of white air, presumably cold, along with sticking up sort of like Ice Crystals. But in Mortal Kombat 11, it's just combed over her hair with a more turquoise color instead of an icy one, making it just Elemental Hair Colors of Blue Means Cold.
Enfant Terrible: Seeing how she killed her mother as a child, it's likely Frost never even had a chance at being anything other than a villain.
Evil Sounds Raspy: She has a distinctly deep voice, very much on the raspy side.
Evil Counterpart: To her master Sub-Zero. Despite appearing first, she's also one to the Kombat Kids. Whereas Cassie, Jacqui, Kung Jin and Takeda represent good students/family of Sonya, Johnny Cage, Jax, Kung Lao, Kenshi and Scorpion, Frost is an evil pupil of Sub-Zero.
Fanservice: Her alternate outfit reveals a lot more leg and a lot more cleavage.
- In the Mortal Kombat X prequel comics, her in a MMA outfit is this.
Foregone Conclusion: Issue 4 sets her up as a threat that could kill Cassie Cage. Due to the latter appearing in Mortal Kombat X, we know that the latter is going to make it out okay.
Hoist by Their Own Petard: In one ending, she attempts to steal Sub-Zero's Amplifier Artifact, but upon getting hold of it, the immense onrush of power she gains ends up making her powers go out of control turning her into a Human Popsicle.
Human Popsicle: She hasn't been killed off yet, but she has been placed in an ice coffin by the younger Sub-Zero in Armageddon.
Lack of Empathy: She treats her Self-Made Orphan past as casually and flippantly as possible.
Leeroy Jenkins: In MKX, when Scorpion and Sub-Zero parley and the talk goes a little rough, she immediately comes charging out of the temple to attack Hanzo, forcing Sub-Zero to freeze her.
Literally Shattered Lives: One of her fatalities has her freeze the opponent solid before kicking them in half, their upper body falling onto the ground and shattering.
Mysterious Past: To date, nothing is known about Frost before she joined the Lin Kuei, other than the fact that she was an orphan (as shown in the MKX comics).
Powerful, but Incompetent: She is stated to be her master's equal in cryomancy — possibly even capable of surpassing him someday. Unfortunately, she is so bratty and impatient that she sees any criticism or difficult training as "holding her back". Her betrayal of Sub-Zero in both separate timelines causes him to lament how much of a waste of potential it was. It is made clear in 11, where even the other villains mock her for this reason.
Psychopathic Womanchild: For all of her strength and skill, Frost is an immensely childish and whiny woman who thinks she deserves to be the Lin Kuei's grandmaster and throws temper tantrums whenever she doesn't get her way. Her behavior reaches its nadir in 11, where practically everybody calls her out or mocks her for her immaturity, especially after she willfully became a cyborg. In her arcade ending, even Kronika of all people looked down at her for this very reason.
The Rival: To Sonya and the feeling is mutual, but neither has ever explained why.
- Is now this to Sonya's daughter, Cassie Cage, at the end of Issue 4 of the X prequel comic.
Sanity Slippage:
- Upon being accidentally released by Taven, Frost is seen to be clearly delusional, hallucinating that she sees Sub-Zero everywhere. She eventually recovers, although her hatred of her former sifu has not subsided.
- Willfully turning herself into a cyborg in 11 only hastened her to Jump Off The Slippery Slope.
She-Fu: Unlike her sifu, who slides around Iceman-style to escape from sticky situations in Deadly Alliance, Frost prefers to perform backflips.
Ship Tease: Her interactions with Rain in 11 all but states that the he has a thing for her, but she isn't interested.
The Smurfette Principle: In the original timeline before MK9 and MKX came along, there was no mention of female warriors in the Lin Kuei other than her, Frost seemly was the only woman among the Lin Kuei. In 11, Frost becomes the only known female robo-ninja.
The Sociopath: She boasts about killing her own mother. Enough said. Willfully turning her body into a cyborg probably didn't help her empathy problems either.
Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Same as Sub-Zero, although since she's weaker and less experienced than he, Frost can only harness her Fa Jing in the form of twin daggers as opposed to Sub-Zero's Kori Blade.
Stance System: She has Tong Bei and Yuan Yang in Deadly Alliance and Unchained. She keeps the former for the final battle.
The Starscream: She tries to take over the Lin Kuei. In 11's Arcade, she becomes this for Kronika, murdering her to seize the Hourglass.
Statuesque Stunner: Especially as a cage fighter in the Mortal Kombat X prequel comics.
Throw the Dog a Bone:
- Cassie has to finish her after the crowd in their MMA fight turns bloodthirsty or Jacqui gets executed. She prepares to do it, but a timely interruption by the Red Dragon allows them to slip away, even carrying an unconscious Frost out with them, alive.
- She also still ends up with the Lin Kuei eventually, serving Grandmaster Sub-Zero, who speaks relatively well of her. Serious anger issues remain a problem with her, though. Sadly, this ends up undone by 11, which sees Frost lapse back into her old ways and betray her mentor once again.
Token Wholesome: Frost has the most modest primary outfit among the female characters in Deadly Alliance. This is averted with her secondary outfit which shows off her legs, cleavage and is prone to flashing her barely covered ass.
Unskilled, but Strong: Sub-Zero calls her as such after he freezes her as she charges at Scorpion at the Lin Kuei temple in MKX. This resonates with Hanzo's own experiences with his apprentice, Takeda.

Tropes related to Frost (cyborg)

Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: As one of the perks of turning into a cyborg, Frost now has unlimited articulation on all of her joints. One of her attacks involves wildly spinning her torso and outstretched arms, while her lower body and head remain facing forward.
Activation Sequence: One intro pose has her booting up and scanning her opponent with her Electronic Eyes, complete with beeping noises.
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Her cybernetics have basically turned her into a Robotic Psychopath like Sektor, bloating her ego to the point of demanding Raiden, Shao Kahn, Kano, etc. give her control of their organizations.
And I Must Scream:
- To spite her ex-mentor for not making her the Lin Kuei grandmaster, she forcibly converted her former comrades into an unwilling Cyber Ninja army, basically condemning them to a Fate Worse than Death.
- Her "Cyber Initiative" fatality turns her opponent into a brainwashed cyborg. Granted, while some of the kombatants are unpleasant to begin with, to see them being turned into robots against their will is nauseating.
A Pupil of Mine Until She Turned to Evil: Sub-Zero's reaction is one of disgust upon finding out his pupil voluntarily became a cyborg on Kronika's payroll and lead the Cyber Lin Kuei. Kuai Liang even tells her that she still isn't fit to lead the Lin Kuei and wasted her potential.
Frost: I was your heir apparent!
Sub-Zero: If only you'd been more patient, Frost.
Frost: Like I'm patiently waiting to kill you?
The Assimilator: In her 2nd fatality, she forcibly converts her opponent into a brainwashed Cyber Ninja by ripping out their brain and spine, and handing it to a flying drone that implants the organs into a fresh mechanical body.
Blade Below the Shoulder: Rather than the ice daggers of her organic self, Cyber-Frost uses her powers to form long blades of ice from her forearms. She also has several moves in which she creates ice drills, which she can spin due to her aforementioned Abnormal Limb Rotation Range.
Brain Uploading: One of her Fatalities puts a spin on Sub-Zero's spine rip, where she has her opponent's brain and spinal cord inserted into a Lin Kuei cyborg for it to use.
The Brute: In Kronika's Legion of Doom, Cyber-Frost is the only major member without her own scheme; initially being merely an accessory to Sektor's operation to harvest the modern Lin Kuei and build custom Mecha-Mooks by the bucketload for Kronika. When she ascends to take Sektor's place as the Cyber Lin Kuei's master, she ends up throwing the entire cyborg army away on a single, massed assault on the assembled heroic factions.
Chest Blaster: A prominent feature of her arsenal in 11.
Composite Character: Her cyborg self is effectively a hybrid of three other Lin Kuei fighters from throughout the franchise. Her personality is the same as her original self, her gameplay is more akin to Cyber Sub-Zero's, while her motivations and actions take heavy cues from Triborg, especially her newfound status as The Assimilator.
Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Frost's cyberization has made her more machine than human, as noted by many of the characters in 11. Yet she was already rotten as a human anyway.
Cyber Ninja: What she turned into upon aligning herself with Kronika. Sub-Zero isn't too happy when he confronts her.
Detachment Combat: Another perk she gained from becoming a cyborg is the ability to remove her own head, either to use as a bludgeon or a bomb. In the case of the latter, a new head will materialize and affix itself to her body.
Distaff Counterpart: Much like how her past self was a counterpart to Sub-Zero, her new cyborg form is a direct counterpart to Cyber Sub-Zero, even featuring the improved skill at Spontaneous Weapon Creation that their organic selves initially lacked. Her appearance also echoes Geras as they have the same creator. Jacqui Briggs even lampshades on it.
Divergent Character Evolution: While still rooted in ice and becoming a cyborg much like her teacher, her moveset is more distinct from Kuai Liang, emphasizing her Detachment Combat.
Dragon Ascendant: Initially starts off as Sektor's right hand after willfully converting herself into a Cyber Ninja, but takes over the Cyber Lin Kuei in the penultimate chapter.
Easily Detachable Robot Parts: Some of her attacks involve removing her head and hitting the opponent with it.
Electronic Eyes: Her Icy Glance Intro showcases some impressive next-gen ones.
Embarrassing Nickname: According to one of her intros with Cassie, people tend to call her "Elsa". She doesn't get it.
Entitled Bastard: Willingly becoming a cyborg inflates her already massive ego to absurd levels, making her even more insistent on being made leader of the Lin Kuei proper simply because she feels she deserves it. Her ambitions extend far enough through that in a pre-fight banter with Raiden, she insists he give her control of the Jinsei. She even demands Shao Kahn, Cetrion and Kano give her control of their organizations. All of them scoff at her demands. Even Kronika isn't too fond of her, as shown in Frost's arcade ending.
Everyone Has Standards: Nobody can stand her, including those she has as allies as a villain due to her extreme egotistical personality that does far more harm than good. Even Bi-Han states the Lin Kuei are better off with Sub-Zero as Grandmaster than her, thus marking the only time in any of his dialogues that he says anything positive about his brother.
Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: In addition to the gold plating on her body and designs on her clothing, she wears gold rings on every one of her fingers.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Frost blames Sub-Zero for "betraying" her in 11, but everyone else thinks otherwise.
- In Chapter 4 of story mode, she claims her mentor "corrupted" the Lin Kuei by allying with the Shirai Ryu. Both Sub-Zero and Scorpion beg to differ, stating that both her and Sektor are the ones who corrupted the Lin Kuei in the first place through the Cyber Initiative and the destruction of the Shirai Ryu. Scorpion even states to Frost that her sifu is actively working to restore the Lin Kuei's honor despite her obviously baseless claims.
- In one of her intros with Nightwolf, Frost considers his powers "useless" when he rebuffs her offer to destroy the Lin Kuei. In another intro, she thinks Sub-Zero "oppressed" her, not realizing that he was actively trying to redeem her. Nightwolf even states that her defection was pointless and that discipline is not oppression.
  Nightwolf: My power isn't for conquest, Frost.
  Frost: Then what good is it?
- With Kitana, Frost assumes the Edenian princess does Sub-Zero's "bidding". Kitana begs to differ.
- In an intro with Raiden, Frost thinks Sub-Zero "had nothing to offer", but the thunder god notes she's too ignorant to realize it.
- She uses the "Not So Different" Remark with Rambo by claiming both had superiors who failed them, but when Rambo points out that she was the one who ironically failed her mentor, she calls his statement "vicious lies".
Evil Counterpart:
- Whereas Cyber Sub-Zero hated the cyberization process but eventually came to terms with it (and even managed to gain back his humanity when Raiden revived him in X), Frost willfully converted herself into a cyborg, but lost all of her sanity in the process.
- She could also be considered one to Takeda Takahashi. Both are The Apprentices to the two most iconic ninjas and utilize futuristic technology in conjunction with their supernatural abilities. While Takeda is a hero, Frost betrays her master and turns evil.
Evil Is Petty: She forcibly converted many of her former Lin Kuei comrades into robo-ninjas to spurn her former sifu.
Exorcist Head: Thanks to the cybernetics she's been enhanced with, she has the ability to rapidly spin her torso while her head remains perfectly in place.
Explosive Overclocking: Her Core Overload move infuses her core with energy, making all ice-based attacks deal 20% more damage. Amplifying it makes the core explode after several seconds, dealing damage to both Frost and the opponent. Said move can also be used as a Brutality, where she activates a Self-Destruct Mechanism that takes her and the opponent out, leaving nothing but blood and electronic parts.
Fantastic Racism:
- Much like Sektor, she despises the Shirai Ryu to the point of calling them "filth" at Hanzo as if she was delivering a particularly nasty slur. Sub-Zero's willingness to ally with them, coupled with her own selfishness, was enough to push her completely over the edge into aborting her Heel–Face Turn.
- She can also act arrogant towards Baraka by calling him a freak over his Tarkatan physiology.
Fatal Flaw: Many characters in 11 have noticed that her arrogance and It's All About Me tendencies have bloated her ego. Comes to a head in the penultimate chapter of 11, where her idiotic desire to lead her Mecha-Mooks personally instead of from a distance ends in an Epic Fail, which instantly disables a large chunk of Kronika's already-whittled down forces.
Foil: Becomes one to her sifu. Whereas he hated being cyberized but eventually came to terms with and managed to regain his humanity in X after Raiden revived him, Frost's cyberization has only hastened her Sanity Slippage and caused her to develop delusions of grandeur to the point of demanding others make her the leader of their organizations.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Similar to Damian Wayne, she receives little to no respect due to her arrogance and betraying Sub-Zero, whether being mocked or insulted during her intros. This extends towards the villains, who are technically aligned with her. Even Kronika isn't too fond of her, as shown in Frost's arcade ending.
Full-Conversion Cyborg: She willingly turns herself into a cyborg after aligning herself with Kronika and forcibly robotizes her ex-Lin Kuei comrades into Cyber Ninjas out of pettiness. When he notices what she has done, it horrifies Sub-Zero as he didn't like being robotized. Even the other kombatants express their dismay at what Frost has become.
- During non-story fights, her Cyber Initiative fatality involves the opponent's brain being uploaded into a Cyber Lin Kuei body. It is the only fatality that inflicts a Fate Worse than Death rather than just killing the victim.
General Failure: Due to her arrogance and haughtiness, she's shown to be an incompetent leader for the Tekunin, as shown in the penultimate chapter, where an attempt to stop Raiden's forces ends up in failure.
Glory Hound: Her obsessive desire to be the most important and powerful leads her to command her robot army personally when she could just do it remotely. It also leads directly to her shutdown and costs Kronika's forces the Cyber Lin Kuei entirely, since Frost was the command nexus.
Glowing Mechanical Eyes: In 11, she sports a set of blue Electronic Eyes similar to those of Kronika and Geras.
Gold and White Are Divine: Her Magitek cyborg body mixes the conventional Lin Kuei blue with Kronika's color scheme of white, gold and glowing cyan. Doubles as an Evil Costume Switch.
Hate Sink: Human Frost is not exactly supposed to be likable, but after being a cyborg, her entitlement and arrogance have really gone up. It says something when even Shao Kahn of all people has been shown positive qualities where, in his own twisted way, he has displayed care for Mileena, Kollector, Skarlet and Sindel while Frost only sees herself as important and has no redeeming features. Some of the characters even comment on her haughtiness and chastise her for betraying Sub-Zero while some of the villains such as Kano, Cetrion and Shang Tsung perceive her as nothing more than a whiny entitled brat when she demands control of their organizations. Her arcade ending reveals that even Kronika of all people thought little of her.
His Own Worst Enemy: Many characters such as Geras, Raiden and Sub-Zero comment that her arrogance and envy is what consumed her.
Hive Queen: She is the command unit of the Cyber Lin Kuei's collective. Unfortunately, this turns them into a Keystone Army as after being defeated by Raiden, the thunder god short-circuits her control over the Cyber Lin Kuei, causing the remaining cyborgs to deactivate.
Hot-Blooded: Going off of the usual tone of her voice, she is very biting, haughty and enraged toward her opponents.
Hypocrite: When isn't she hypocritical of others?
- Despite claiming that Noob would be a worse leader for the Lin Kuei due to his misogyny, she comes off as a hypocrite for betraying Sub-Zero and robotizing her former Lin Kuei comrades just to spite her sifu. Bi-Han even thinks the Lin Kuei are better off with Kuai Liang.
- Tells Johnny Cage that his existence offends her for his smug arrogance. This coming from someone whose own arrogance is arguably bigger than his and Kung Lao's combined.
- She calls Baraka a "freak" in one pre-fight conversation despite her hypocritical willingness to gain Transhuman Treachery from Kronika and become a cyborg with detachable limbs. Her mouth guard even gives her a ghoulish appearance similar to Baraka.
- She uses the "Not So Different" Remark with Rambo by claiming both have superiors who failed them, but he points out that she ironically failed her mentor.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Her inflated ego stems from her insecurities over being "dismissed" and "abandoned" by everyone she trusted. Not that they're pleasant to begin with, but even some of the villains such as Noob Saibot, Kano and Shao Kahn look down on her. Her arcade ending shows that even Kronika of all people thought little of her.
In Spite of a Nail: Despite the progress she seemed to be making with Sub-Zero in the new timeline, she still grows to resent her mentor and craves the status of Grandmaster to the point of betraying him.
Irrational Hatred: Towards the Shirai Ryu, to the point where one of her reasons for betraying Sub-Zero is due to him making amends with them.
It's All About Me:
- What Sub-Zero deduces her true motive to piggyback off of Kronika. Her Arcade ending proves this correct, as she uses Kronika's Hourglass purely to make herself more important and respected while siccing Time Police on anything that threatens her ego.
- In 11, she demands everyone respect her and portrays herself in the highest possible regard, including, but not limited to - demanding control of the Jinsei from Raiden, demanding Shao Kahn be her ally against Sub-Zero and claiming to be the greatest Lin Kuei. Not a single person buys it. Although he hates his younger brother, even Noob Saibot outright thinks the Lin Kuei are better off with Sub-Zero.
  Shao Kahn: You want to lead my armies?
  Frost: Good luck finding anyone better.
  Shao Kahn: A street urchin would do better.^*
Jerkass: She doesn't have a nice word to say about anybody. She almost compliments Noob Saibot by saying he should've led the Lin Kuei instead of Sub-Zero, but quickly rescinds it after he dismisses the idea of a female Lin Kuei.
Jerkass Has a Point: In one of her intros against Shang Tsung, she demands he prove his loyalty to Kronika. When he asks what makes her think he'd side with Raiden, she points out that absolutely nothing about his past makes that an impossibility. He doesn't ally with Raiden, but he does, inevitably, stab Kronika in the back.
Keystone Army: She's the Keystone for her Cyber Lin Kuei army. Raiden short-circuiting her in Chapter 11 instantly turns off all the Cyber Lin Kuei that were attacking Kharon's ships.
Knight Templar: Subverted. Her rationale for allying with Kronika and becoming a cyborg is that she thinks her sifu sullied the Lin Kuei by making peace with the Shirai Ryu. Sub-Zero thinks she's only piggybacking off of Kronika, something which is confirmed in Frost's ending.
Leeroy Jenkins: In the penultimate chapter of 11's Story mode, she personally leads the Tekunin to counterattack Raiden's forces before they reach Kronika's keep. It leads directly to her capture and the severing of her connection to the cyber-ninjas, which instantly disables a large chunk of Kronika's already-depleted forces.
Light Is Not Good: Despite the Gold and White Are Divine armor on her Magitek body, she is obviously not a good person. If anything, it's transformed her into a Robotic Psychopath like Sektor.
Losing Your Head: One of her intro animations in 11 has her disembodied head and spinal cord being lowered into a fresh cyborg body. Her head will also reattach to the robot body after she performs the "Beheaded" brutality.
Moral Myopia: She despises Noob's misogyny and declares him to be even worse than Sub-Zero as a result, yet she has no problem killing her own mother, betraying Sub-Zero or robotizing her former Lin Kuei comrades just to spite her ex-mentor.
Magitek: Her new Cyber Ninja body is built with Kronika's golem technology rather than that of the Cyber Lin Kuei.
Men Are Generic, Women Are Special: Hers is the most unique design among the cyborg ninjas, particularly with the amount of human facial features she shows. Partly justified by the fact that her upgrades come from Kronika's Magitek and conform to the latter's design choices.
Never My Fault: Blames Sub-Zero for her misfortunes in 11, but everyone else clearly sees the opposite.
"Not So Different" Remark: Pulls this card with Rambo by claiming both have superiors who failed them, but when he points out that she ironically failed her mentor, she calls his statement "vicious lies".
Popcultural Osmosis Failure: In one of 11's pre-match intros, Cassie calls her "Elsa". Frost doesn't get the reference, instead irritably questioning why so many people call her that.
Power Stereotype Flip: In contrast to what you'd expect from someone with ice powers, Frost is hot-tempered, impatient and arrogant. Lampshaded in one of her intro dialogues with Geras.
Geras: For a cryomancer, you run hot.
Redemption Rejection: In 11, Nightwolf urges her to redeem herself by joining his side, but she adamantly refuses. This once again leads to her defeat.
Reforged into a Minion: Her 2nd fatality in 11 forcibly turns the opponent into a brainwashed Cyber Lin Kuei.
Robot Girl: The first female Cyber Lin Kuei of the franchise and is the command nexus of the New Era Lin Kuei's collective.
Robotic Psychopath: Sub-Zero comments that her roboticization, combined with her Sanity Slippage, has made her more machine than human.
Rollerblade Good: Her Friendship in MK11 has Frost use her powers to form a makeshift ice-skating rink. She then proceeds to do some impressive moves, even spinning with her head still in place.
Schrödinger Fu: A lot of her combos rely on how unpredictable her mechanical body can make her movements since she can spin any limb at just about any angle.
Self-Made Orphan: At least partially: in one of her pre-fight banters in 11, she offhandedly mentions murdering her own mother at the age of twelve.
Self-Serving Memory: She has the gall to claim Sub-Zero "betrayed" her, but the other kombatants know it was the other way around. Even the other villains look down at her for this reason and rebuff her demands to lead their organizations. Her arcade ending revealed that even Kronika wasn't fond of her either.
Shoulder Cannon: Sports a pair of them that fire two icy shurikens. Amplifying the move enables her to move the cannons to her torso and fire four more shurikens.
Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Her ability to shape ice is greatly improved by her transformation, allowing her to form a variety of weapons to attack with (though she favors a Blade Below the Shoulder).
Straw Feminist: She's overly defensive of her gender. She even asks Kotal Kahn if he has a problem with strong women and shows disgust when Noob declares that he would have never allowed female Lin Kuei if he were Grandmaster.
Stupid Evil: If making herself the sole controller and power unit of a whole army of Cyber Lin Kuei then going to face a thunder god that can fry her brain, and by extension, her whole army in seconds doesn't make her this, nothing does.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: In 11, she's the stand-in for Cyber Sub-Zero.
Taking You with Me: Her Explosive Overclocking brutality in 11 enables her to activate a Self-Destruct Mechanism that takes her and the opponent out, leaving nothing but blood and electronic parts.
This Is a Drill: She can form large, teardrop-shaped chunks of ice over her hands and then spin them like drillbits thanks to her Abnormal Limb Rotation Range. In her first fatality, she creates two ice drills: one to turn her victim's brains into a frosted slushy and the other to disembowel them. She then places an ice bomb in her victim's gut. When it goes off, the exploded torso is flash-frozen into a macabre ice sculpture.
Time Police: Her Arcade ending in 11 has her set up a villainous example. The Cyber Lin Kuei, with the power of Kronika's Hourglass, are dedicated to travelling across time and enforcing Frost's preferred version of history (i.e. one where she has power, fame and recognition) by any means necessary.
Took a Level in Jerkass: By 11, she's managed to become worse than she already was in the original timeline.
Too Dumb to Live: If your doom means your entire cyborg army goes down with you, then rushing into a fight with a Physical God isn't the smartest move. And that's how Kronika lost a good chunk of her army, kids.
Transhuman Treachery: Her ex-mentor laments that she willingly embraced becoming a cyborg after siding with Kronika. She's always been an arrogant and entitled Psychopathic Womanchild, but it's cranked up to the point where she even forcibly converts her fellow Lin Kuei and her defeated opponents into Cyber Ninjas. Granted, while some of the kombatants are villains, but to see them become robotic monstrosities is quite jarring. In her 11 arcade ending, she even forms her own Time Police where she enforces her preferred version of history in all timelines by all means necessary.
Unwilling Roboticisation:
- Her second fatality in 11 is a play on the classic Spine Rip, this time with her firing a frosty Chest Blaster that freezes her opponent, ripping out the spine with the brain still attached and summoning a drone that takes the brain and spine and implants it in a Cyber Lin Kuei body. Granted, while some of the kombatants like Shao Kahn or Mileena are unpleasant to begin with, but to forcibly turn them into robotic monstrosities is jarring.
- This is also how she created the Tekunin in the new timeline. Luring out many of her former Lin Kuei comrades to forcibly transform them into robots, she used a process that involves brainwashing them and deliberately did it to spite her former mentor. Sub-Zero and Scorpion look disgusted at her when they find the mutilated corpses.
- In her MK11 arcade ending, it's unknown what became of the other kombatants once she killed them all, but it's implied she did turn them into brainwashed robo-ninjas and used them to enforce her preferred version of all timelines.
You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: In the penultimate chapter of 11, Sub-Zero and Raiden lament that Frost could have used her cybernetics to redeem herself, but chose to waste her potential.

Hsu Hao

"We'll dismantle your body. Then dismantle your boy. DAEGON COMMANDS IT!"

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Mavado, leader of the Red Dragon Clan, sent in one of his most trusted soldiers into the Outworld Investigation Agency to sabotage it from within. That soldier was Hsu Hao, who was instrumental in wiping out the Black Dragon Clan for the benefit of Mavado. This Mongolian grappler is unquestionably loyal to his leader, and has a cybernetic implant that replaces his heart to augment his body strength. After Mavado started working for the Deadly Alliance, he ordered Hsu Hao to destroy the OIA's underground base and means to travel to Outworld, and made his way back to the realm to rendezvous with his superior. His new orders were sent from Quan Chi through Mavado to kill Shang Tsung.

He was on his way when he ran across a vengeful Jax, who did not take his betrayal lightly and seemingly killed him by ripping the cybernetic heart off his body. Through unknown means, he survived, and joined the Battle of Armageddon.

He made a surprise reappearance in the Mortal Kombat X comic, as an antagonist to Kenshi for betraying the Red Dragon. It didn't take long for Scorpion to kill him, though. His offscreen reboot during Kronika's Time Crash doesn't end any better.

Arch-Enemy: Of Jax.
Asshole Victim: While he isn't the only character in the series to have done some reprehensible things, the creators of the series make sure his fate is given special emphasis whenever he dies.
Awesome, but Impractical: His cybernetic heart, as while it is capable of shooting a laser, it's a big target that Jax and Scorpion exploited to kill him in both timelines.
Ax-Crazy: The Joker handpicks Hsu Hao as part of his team in his 11 arcade ending. Considering its other members beside himself include Mileena and Havik, this suggests Hsu Hao is dangerously insane.
Back for the Dead: In the reboot timeline, he shows up to immediately get harpooned, then have his face caved in by Scorpion. The temporal collision gets him offed by Erron Black.
Back from the Dead: At the end of Deadly Alliance, Jax rips Hsu Hao's cybernetic heart out. He's back in Armageddon as if nothing ever happened.
Bald of Evil: His alternate shows him to be this.
Beard of Evil: He's got a pointy little-soul patch.
Blood Knight: Judging from his expression here◊, Hsu Hao's definitely the bloodthirsty type.
Chest Blaster: Instead of a heart, Hsu Hao has a pulsating cybernetic implant that fires lasers. His only signature fatality in Deadly Alliance has him blast his opponent in two with it.
The Chew Toy: As of the modern timeline, Hsu Hao has long since passed over Butt-Monkey territory and dived headlong into this trope. He is constantly being mockingly referenced, killed off and mutilated in metatextual reference to the developers' (and fans') vocal disdain of the character. At this point, it's almost hard to remember who Hsu Hao even was or why he's hated so much.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: His Kombat Kard's bio says he has a tendency for this. Nothing shows for this.
Cosmic Plaything: The Mortal Kombat universe seems to have it in for Hsu Hao, considering that he is frequently Killed Off for Real in each game he appears in that even rivals Reptile in terms of sheer unluckiness. It helps that he is quite unsympathetic.
Decapitation Presentation: In MK11, he is reduced to a small cameo as a head being carried around in a bloody burlap sack Erron Black walks in with in one of his intro animations.
The Dragon: To Mavado. In the reboot, he seems to answer directly to Daegon.
Exotic Weapon Supremacy: His Sun-Moon is one of the more ornately-crafted weapons out there. Although Supremacy is a bit debatable.
The Grappler: Hsu Hao's fighting styles are all focused on grappling and he is the only fighter in the games with such gameplay.
Green and Mean: He wears a green cap and pants and is a ruthless Red Dragon member.
Hollywood Cyborg: He's got a weaponized mechanical heart.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Shortly after appearing to menace Kenshi in the prequel comics to MKX, Scorpion impales him with his spear, then punches through his head.
Improbable Weapon User: As detailed under Chest Blaster, his heart is the device that fires his lasers.
Irony: In the original timeline, he's a mole running from the Special Forces (specifically, Jax) after betraying them. In the reboot, he's now pursuing Kenshi for doing that same thing to the Red Dragon.
Leather Man: He certainly invokes the look.
Killed Offscreen: In versus matches continuity, he had some kind of altercation with Erron Black that led to his head being dragged around in a burlap bag. Whether that's the same one who was given a new hole by Scorpion or one from a different timeline is anyone's guess.
The Mole: Sent by Mavado to pose as a member of the Chinese secret military and aid the Special Forces in catching and killing Black Dragon members. This allowed Hsu Hao to get close enough to the OWIA and destroy it and its portal system after the Red Dragon's rival clan had been wiped out.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: According to his Vs. from Armageddon. He seemingly keeps this trait in MK11.
Shockwave Clap: His Khan Klap special.
Stance System: His stances in Deadly Alliance are Shuai Chiao and Wrestling. In Armageddon he has Sumo.
Throw the Dog a Bone: Instead of being completely humiliated in some way, the Joker's ending in 11 has Hsu Hao as a core part of his crew in spreading chaos.
Undying Loyalty: Toward Mavado.
Unexplained Recovery: Jax's Deadly Alliance ending in which he killed Hsu Hao was always intended to be canon, but Armageddon bringing every character back for the final instalment of the original timeline, much to John Vogel's vocal dismay (in his own Kombat Kard showcase video, no less). No one has ever bothered to explain how he survived.
Walking Shirtless Scene: Doesn't wear a shirt in any of his appearances, which makes sense considering his mechanical heart can fire lasers and the aparatus that keeps it there is a bit unwieldy and hard to fit over or under a shirt.
We Hardly Knew Ye: In the rebooted timeline. His dialogue in the comic is all we'll know about him as he winds up getting brutally murdered by Scorpion.
Would Hurt a Child: He mentions how he and his clan would have no objections to "dismantling" a young Takeda at the behest of Daegon.
Wrestler in All of Us: His second fighting style in DA is Wrestling and one of his throws is a backbreaker.
Yellow Peril: A very unflattering Mongolian racial stereotype, he is characterised as treacherous, untrustworthy and sycophantic to an evil organisation. He even has the red eyes, Fu Manchu moustache and sick, yellow-green complexion associated with the propaganda caricature. This seems to be at least part of the reason Netherrealm can't stand him.

Kenshi

Kenshi Takahashi

"Now I have but one goal: to slay the sorcerer who blinded me."

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (Robert Keating)

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat: Deception (Robert Keating), Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Robert Keating), Mortal Kombat 9 (DLC), Mortal Kombat X (Vic Chou, English; Carlo Vázquez, Latin American Spanish), Mortal Kombat 1 (Vic Chou, English; Carlo Vázquez, Latin American Spanish; Noah Fleder, face model)

Non-game appearances: Mortal Kombat: Legacy (Dan Southworth), Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (Manny Jacinto)

Kenshi was a talented martial artist severely lacking in humility, until one day he was approached by a man named Song (actually Shang Tsung in disguise) with a tempting offer: unseal an old well which could only be opened by those of his bloodline, so that Kenshi might gain an immensely powerful sword sealed within. The well was actually the resting place of Kenshi's ancestors, and when he unsealed it, the powerful mystic light that emanated from within painfully blinded him. Of course, it was all an evil plan by Shang Tsung, who absorbed the souls of Kenshi's warrior ancestors and let him to rot, laughing all the way.

However, at the bottom of the well, Kenshi DID find a source of power: Sento, the mystic sword which was infused with power from his ancestors. Determined to kill Shang Tsung and atone for his arrogance, Kenshi retrains his remaining senses to superhuman levels and becomes a swordsman without equal, seeking to free his ancestors' souls by making Shang Tsung eat his blade. He joined the Special Forces to this end and assisted them in pursuing the Deadly Alliance, freeing Ermac from Shao Kahn before being badly wounded by Mavado. He was rescued by Sub-Zero and formed a friendship with him before returning to Earthrealm to wander upon Shang Tsung's defeat. Kenshi initially declines Johnny Cage's offer to join the Forces of Light due to his disillusion with typical good vs. evil battles, but would accept upon receiving a premonition of the Battle of Armageddon and agreed to help lead the Forces of Light.

When the alternate timeline started rolling, nothing in his personality changed. He participated in the second Mortal Kombat tournament, facing Reiko, although the outcome was unknown. He, however, got involved much earlier in the storyline when Shinnok showed up and helped Raiden, Sonya (who was a major during the Netherrealm invasion) and Johnny defeat him. He later marries a woman named Suchin and has a son named Takeda. He was forced to leave Takeda in the care of the Shirai Ryu after Red Dragon assassins came to kill him in retaliation for serving as a Special Forces mole and instead killed Suchin. Kenshi never revealed to Takeda what became of his mother for fear that he would become consumed with vengeance and pursue her killers without proper training, only returning with the truth when Takeda had become a grown man. While their relationship is still estranged, the two have become closer as they have worked together in the Special Forces to combat threats to Earthrealm.

For tropes applying to Kenshi in the new timeline started by Mortal Kombat 1, click here.

Action Dad: Estranged father of Takeda.
Amazing Technicolor Population: His skin was somewhat grey in his debut (only in his default costume; his alternate had a more normal hue), although this was fixed from Deception onward.
Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Was one of these before the series began. Shang Tsung uses this to his advantage, tricking Kenshi into releasing the souls of his ancestors for his consumption.
Attack Reflector: Gains a move allowing him to redirect projectiles with a slash of his katana in 9.
Badass Boast: He has his fair share.
Jax: Your spooky hokum don't scare me.
Kenshi: It should.
Erron Black: You sure we haven't met before?
Kenshi: You're still alive, right?
Erron Black: Hmph, shame I have to put you down.
Badass Longcoat: His alternates in 9 and X.
Blinded by the Light: Opening the Well of Souls where his ancestors resided permanently did this to him.
Blind Justice: Heh… He even has a combo in the DA-D-A trilogy named this, no doubt a nod to one of his inspirations, Daredevil.
Blind Weaponmaster: He's a blind swordsman.
Break the Haughty: While Shang Tsung is a lot worse than he ever was, Kenshi was in pretty dire need to have a slap of humility prior to finding Sento. Losing his sight was an unfortunate consequence but it ultimately turned him into a better man following his deception and gave him a more righteous purpose to put his skills towards.
Breakout Character: Originally just another one of the many newcomers in Deadly Alliance with a somewhat minor story presence, Kenshi's popularity saw him make appearances in the whole DA-D-A trilogy and he was even awarded a spot as a DLC character in MK9, which was otherwise a reboot that focused primarily on the cast of the original trilogy of games. He would gain further prominence by appearing in the similarly original trilogy themed Mortal Kombat: Legacy as a prominent character and returned in MKX with added story presence through his son Takeda.
- More impressively, Kenshi now has an entire animated movie that retells his origin story, Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind.
- Kenshi has even earned a spot in the base roster of the new Mortal Kombat 1 timeline, being the first 3D Era character to do so.
Camera Abuse: His Scatterbrained Fatality in 9. He repeatedly smashes his opponent's helplessly flailing body against the screen via telekinesis. You can actually see cracks from how hard Kenshi is throwing them, and eventually, players are treated to a visual of one of the opposing fighter's eyes popping out of its sockets before Kenshi delivers the killing blow with his katana.
Cool Old Guy: Not that old (maybe about 50 by the time of Mortal Kombat X's Time Skip) but a lot of his pre-match dialogue is very laid-back and witty or deadpan. It contrasts his Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy roots.
Cool Sword: His katana, Sento, contains the souls of his ancestors and he can use it to summon them in combat.
Death by Cameo: Played With. While by the end of the story in the timeline from 9 to 11 he is still alive, A long deceased Kenshi is found in the Krypt of Mortal Kombat 11, with Shang Tsung claiming to have absorbed his soul. His headband is taken by the player to progress further.
Deadly Rotary Fan: One of his fatalities in X has him use telekinesis to lift and rapidly spin his sword to achieve this effect, before lifting his opponent and feeding them into the rapidly spinning blade.
Demonic Possession: Gameplay-wise, in X, there's the Possessed variation (although Kenshi himself is not possessed but rather his sword is fractured, causing the entities that inhabitied it to spill out and be at his command).
Disability Superpower: Almost exactly like Daredevil. In the DA-D-A trilogy, it also gives him immunity to Sonya and Kira's Kiss of Death moves, which aim for the eyes. In 9, however, he's still stunned by Stryker's X-Ray opener (blinding the opponent with a flashlight).
Disabled Snarker: As of X. Quite a few of his pre-battle conversations are extremely sarcastic, even (or perhaps especially) to his allies.
Kenshi: I know you're there.
Kung Jin: Guess I won't be quiet then.
Kenshi: Are you ever?
Doppelgänger Attack: A few of his enhanced moves in 9 create an astral projection of Kenshi which does the attacking for him.
Downloadable Content: In MK9. Notably, he is the only playable character besides Quan Chi to hail from the post-MK3 games in 9.
The Drifter:
- Original timeline only. A lone warrior by nature, he turns down the offers of allies Sonya and Sub-Zero (to permanently join the OIWA and join the Lin Kuei, respectively) and instead traverses the lands, striking down several criminal organizations in the cover of night.
- Subverted in the alternate timeline. In his ending in 9, Jax offers him a place in the Special Forces. By the time X rolls around, he's still with them.
Flying Weapon: He can use his telekinesis to manipulate his sword.
Handicapped Badass: He's a blind swordsman.
Heroic Lineage: Descended from a long line of warrior kings originating in Eurasia.
Hoist by His Own Petard: He intends to do this to Shang Tsung because, as it turns out, there was a mighty sword hidden in the tomb Tsung tricked him into opening.
Hunk: Fits the criteria.
Jobber: Appears in the Story Mode of X only to be beaten. He doesn't fare any better in the comics.
Katanas Are Just Better: To be fair, he is Japanese (or of Eurasian descent at the very least).
- Cool Sword: A katana wielded by his ancestors that acts a telepathic guide.
- Named Weapons: According to 9, the katana is named Sento (which is Japanese for "battle").
Killed Offscreen: in Shang Tsung's island in The Krypt for Mortal Kombat 11, where Shang Tsung claimed to have stolen his soul.
Last Stand: The name of his final resting place in the Krypt is named as such, and he is surrounded by corpses of oni demons.
Martial Arts Headband: Worn around his eyes.
Magic Knight: He's a swordsman with telekinetic powers. Think of him as the MK equivalent of a Jedi.
Master Swordsman: Kinda his thing, turned up a notch given that he's blind. His telekinetic powers also allow him to wield Sento using just his mind.
Meaningful Name: His name is Japanese for "swordsman". Kenshi is also referred to as "the Sword Saint" in the Konquest mode of Deadly Alliance, which is the English equivalent of the Japanese word kensei.
Mind over Matter: Actually an inherent ability of his (according to DA's Konquest Mode, Ermac merely taught him more complex techniques like the Telekinetic Slam).
Missed the Call: Deception's Konquest mode reveals that Kenshi had hoped to enter the first game's tournament to enact revenge on Shang Tsung. Three guesses as to how that turned out.
Nice Guy: Following his blinding, Kenshi mellowed out to become a relaxed guy who's very courteous to his fellow warriors.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: In a rare In-Universe example, Cassie thinks he looks similar to Keanu Reeves. The fans agree.
Parental Abandonment: Of a sort. In the prequel comics to MKX, Kenshi finds out he has a son he never knew. When his actions against the Red Dragon put the boy in danger (and get his mother killed), Kenshi rescues the boy, leaves him in Scorpion's care and leaves to continue his mission against the Red Dragon.
Power Floats: He can use his telekinesis to lift himself or his sword up into the air. This seems to be used primarily with meditation in mind, not combat.
Prophet Eyes: Damaging Kenshi enough for his headband to be worn away in 9 reveals he has these. This can also be seen with his alternate costume in Deadly Alliance. His Kenjutsu variation in X also does away with the headband present in his costumes to reveal these.
Pun: Kenshi's vignette for 9 ends by stating that he believes in "an eye for an eye".
Puppet Fighter: As mentioned, he can summon an astral projection of himself in some attacks.
Red Is Heroic: He wears red armor and a red blindfold and is a defender of Earthrealm.
Remember the New Guy?: Downplayed. Though his presence in MK9 as a DLC fighter wasn't exactly a secret, players who didn't see his arcade ladder ending may be a little perplexed by his sudden presence in the opening chapter of the story mode of MKX, where Kenshi is depicted as a member of Special Forces and a long-time friend of Sonya and Johnny.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He does not appreciate being used by Shang Tsung to enslave the souls of his ancestors.
Shipper on Deck: He's more than happy to include Jacqui into the Takahashi family, given how Takeda and Jacqui feel about each other.
Jacqui: Ready, Mr. Takahashi?
Kenshi: Please. Call me 'Dad'.
Spirited Competitor: In the early stages of his adulthood, Kenshi roamed the Earth searching for strong opponents and worthy battles. This was before Shang Tsung tricked him, causing him to lose his sight in the process.
Stance System: In his debut, he has Tai Chi and San Shou. In Deception, San Shou is replaced by Judo.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: At 6'1" with dark hair and muscles to match, Kenshi nicely fits all the criteria.
Tall, Dark, and Snarky: At 6'1", he's one of the most attractive characters who also graciously roasts the entire cast during pre-battle dialogues.
Kenshi: Reptile…
Reptile: You will not read my thoughts!
Kenshi: There is very little to read.
Tattooed Crook: In MK1, the back of his hands are covered in Yakuza tattoos.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Inverted in his second Fatality in 9. He plants his sword in the ground then throws his opponent at it. His X-Ray in X similarly inverts it by pulling his opponent right into the sword, impaling them through the nose. Played straight as part of one of his fatalities in X and justified through his telekinetic control of the sword.
Twofer Token Minority: Japanese and blind.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite being a part of Special Forces, he makes no appearance alongside his son in 11 outside of Death by Cameo mentioned above.
Would Hit a Girl: Subverted; He's a peaceful guy who wouldn't attack anyone, let alone a lady, outside of kombat, but in the before a match with Cassie, it gets lampshaded where she humorously pulls one over on him.
Cassie: I can't believe you'd hit a girl!
Kenshi: We are merely trainin—
Cassie: …wow. And I thought your son was gullible…

Li Mei

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat X (cameo) (Tara Strong, English; Susana Moreno, Latin American Spanish), Mortal Kombat 1 (Kelly Hu, English and face model; Kerygma Flores, Latin American Spanish)

Non-video game appearances: Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (Grey Griffin)

When Quan Chi and Shang Tsung needed a new palace built to house the Soulnado, they tasked Kano with looking after some slaves from a nearby village to build it. One of these slaves, Li Mei, managed to get the better of him and impressed the Deadly Alliance. They offered Li Mei the chance to fight in the Deadly Alliance tournament to free her village. This however turned out to be bogus, as her reward for "winning" was having her soul transferred into one of the undead soldiers of the Dragon King's army. Last minute intervention by Bo'Rai'Cho however managed to partially halt the process, but at the cost of Li Mei having a few personality alterations.

Rescued, she rejoined the fight against the resurrected Onaga, and the eventual Battle of Armageddon.

In the alternate timeline, Li Mei leads a group out Outworld refugees who seek asylum in Earthrealm, following battles between Kotal Kahn and Mileena. Her arrival prompts the Earthrealm heroes into battle, as she mentions Shinnok's amulet is in Mileena's possession.

For tropes applying to Li Mei in the new timeline started by Mortal Kombat 1, click here.

Action Girl: Part of her backstory involved Kano being impressed with her skills, after all.
Adaptational Villainy: In Deception, she's a noble warrior who fights to liberate her people from the hands of her sovereign oppressors. However in Battle of the Realms, Li Mei takes on a wildly different role as an Outworlder fighting for her emperor, Shao Kahn, during the second and final Mortal Kombat tournament.
Adaptational Early Appearance: Originally she appears around the time of Deadly Alliance, however in Battle of the Realms she appears much earlier during the second Mortal Kombat tournament.
Anime Chinese Girl: Although she's from Outworld.
Anti-Villain: Well Intentioned Anti-Villain version: In her Deception ending, she joins Onaga, but when you consider her history, it's easy to see why she would want to help Onaga take over all of existence.
Better to Die than Be Killed: In her Hara-Kiri move, Li Mei takes out her sword, throws it up into the air and bends over. The sword comes back down and decapitates her.
Break the Cutie: To say she got it rough is an understatement.
Combat Stilettos: Li Mei wears wooden sandals in her primary outfit in Deadly Alliance, but her unlockable costume gives her high-heeled boots. Her appearances in Deception and Armageddon have her wearing heels in both costumes like most of the female characters.
Cosmic Plaything: Li Mei’s storylines in the four games she’s appeared in are marked with misfortune. In Deadly Alliance, she competes in a tournament with the promise that she and people will be freed if she wins, succeeds, and is promptly betrayed, with her soul being placed in one of Onaga’s soldiers. In Deception, she is released from her eternal prison but has her entire personality reshaped due to brushing against other souls. Unbeknownst to her or her company, Li Mei has merged with a soul loyal to Onaga, the force she is fighting against. In Armageddon, she’s the first casualty, being impaled by Hotaru. Her village is attacked in MKX and she leaves to claim sanctuary in Earthrealm, unknowingly traveling with Kano, a dangerous and untrustworthy assassin.
Death by Irony: In Mileena's ending in Deception, Li Mei is seen holding a Naginata. Guess what weapon kills her off in the Battle of Armageddon?
Demoted to Extra: MKX recasts her as the leader of a band of Outworld immigrants fleeing the civil war between Kotal Kahn and Mileena, and is otherwise just an ordinary citizen.
Face–Heel Turn: Li Mei's non-canon ending in Deception. Leads to Unholy Matrimony with Onaga.
Fair Cop: What she is in Liu Kang's new timeline. She becomes Da Chief of the Imperial police once her reputation is restored by Emperor Jerrod. It doesn't last because she can't stand the bureaucracy and politics.
Graceful Ladies Like Purple: All of her outfits contain purple in some manner.
Hidden Depths: According to her modeling profile, she's a ventriloquist.
Hotter and Sexier: From Deadly Alliance, wearing a graceful, yet sexy garb with sandals to Deception, in a bandana, boots, bra and panties. Inverted if you take in her alternate costumes—she's in a hot sports bra and shorts attire in DA, but dons a full plate of armor in Deception.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How she meets her end in the Battle of Armageddon. Being the first casualty after being impaled by Hotaru's naginata. Which is still in her corpse as MK (2011)'s intro shows.
Ink-Suit Actor: Her face model in Mortal Kombat 1 is actor and model Kelly Hu, who also voices her in the game.
Jiggle Physics: In Deadly Alliance. Sidestep repeatedly and see for yourself.
Long Hair Is Feminine: Has long flowing hair across most of her appearances.
Meaningful Name: Each part of her name is both Cantonese Chinese for "plum," as reflected in the primary coloration of her outfits.
Ms. Fanservice: Li Mei is the most blatant example of the female characters introduced in the 3D era. She has large breasts which all of her outfits show off to varying degrees and each game gives her at least one outfit that shows off a great deal of skin. Deadly Alliance also gives her Jiggle Physics. The designers have even referred to her as a "sexy bombshell" and she has a joke profile depicting her as a model.
Navel-Deep Neckline: Plunging necklines are present in all of her 3D era outfits to varying degrees, her primary outfit in Deception being the most guilty example.
Off with Her Head!: Her Hara-kiri move has her throw her sword up into the air and bend over, so that it when comes back down it slices off her head.
Plucky Girl: Let it be said that when she fought back against the foot soldiers under the command of the Deadly Alliance, she most likely would have defeated Kano had it not been for Quan Chi's intervention.
Purple Is Powerful: All of her outfits are purple and she is a pretty tough fighter in her own right.
Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Her Flying Furry.
Revenge: Against Shang Tsung and Quan Chi for enslaving her people.
Sacrificial Lamb: Is the first member of the Forces of Light to die in the Battle of Armageddon, being impaled by Hotaru's naginata at the beginning of the fight (as seen in the intro). 9 confirms this to be true.
The Scapegoat: She was in no way responsible for Emperor Jerrod's murder. She tried to save him but there was nothing she could do. The matrons put all the blame on her and rather than defending her case, she decided to just leave her post. When Jerrod comes back as Ermac, he makes it clear that Li Mei was entirely innocent.
Stance System: In Deadly Alliance her fighting styles are Baji Quan and Lui He Ba Fa. Baji Quan is dropped and replaced by Mi Zong in Deception, and she only possesses Lui He Ba Fa in Armageddon.
Stripperiffic: Many of her outfits are quite revealing and contain a good deal of Fanservice.
Tamer and Chaster: Her return in X has her in more conservative clothing, without a hint of her usual status as a Ms. Fanservice.
Token Heroic Orc: She and Bo' Rai Cho are the only consistently heroic Outworlders.
Throw the Dog a Bone: She may not do much in the alternate timeline, but she and her people stand a far better chance of surviving this time round.
Underwear of Power: In her alternate and primary from Deadly Alliance and Deception respectively.
Xenafication: In Deception. Hardened by her ordeals and Near-Death Experience in Deadly Alliance, Li Mei becomes less sweet and more of a battle-oriented warrior. This is reflected by her alternate costume; as Bo' Rai Cho was not fully successful in saving Li Mei, she took on some of the aspects of the Dragon King's soldiers, reflecting the partial corruption of her soul. This also comes with a price; as Li Mei is technically one of Onaga's soldiers, she is magnetically drawn towards him, culminating in her non-canon Face–Heel Turn in her Deception ending.
You Are Already Dead: One of her Deception fatalities, delivered via Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs.

Mavado

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (John Turk)

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Alex Brandon), Mortal Kombat 1 (DLC; Kameo)

Before Kano and the Black Dragon Clan became feared criminals, they were part of the Red Dragon Clan and one of their leaders named Mavado. If Kano used brute force and scare tactics, Mavado used discipline and superior intellect to achieve his goals. This vicious pitiless crime lord engineered the destruction of the original Black Dragon clan by planting a mole inside the Outworld Investigation Agency, and would eventually soundly defeat Kabal and acquire his trademark hookswords.

When Mavado was contacted by the Deadly Alliance as a potential ally, he gladly accepted the proposition. As an enforcer for the Deadly Alliance, he was able to defeat Kenshi, instruct his mole to further sabotage the Outworld Investigation Agency, and capture Kano. He would eventually be defeated by a vengeful Kabal, but return in time for the Battle of Armageddon, his hatred for the Black Dragon still burning.

He's still the same in the alternate timeline. However, with Kabal a revenant, he has found himself helping Mileena in the Outworld civil war and owns his own pair of hook swords. He engages in battle with Cassie and Jacqui in an attempt to kidnap them for Havik, and winds up gutted by the former with his own hook swords.

Arch-Enemy: To Kabal for trying to kill him. 11 seems to insinuate they had a rivalry long before his assassination attempt on him.
Badass Longcoat: Complete with the Red Dragon insignia on the back.
Back from the Dead: Kabal supposedly killed him after Deadly Alliance to get his Hookswords back, and to return the favor for nearly killing him. Not only does he return without explanation, but he still has the Hookswords (though he may have simply acquired a new pair of his own).
Dashing Hispanic: Mavado is supposedly of Hispanic descent, which was much more blatant in initial concept art where he was to have a matador-inspired outfit. He's still pretty good-looking.
Deadpan Snarker: Though he only shows shades of this in the comics, Kabal in 11 recognizes Mavado to have enough of a mouth to make ridiculous jokes at his expense. Which is why a Mirror Match intro has Kabal not believe his alternate self's claims of not being Mavado.
Dual Wielding: He uses a pair of hookswords, which are actually Kabal's that he stole when he "killed" him. He somehow keeps these in Armageddon, despite both characters appearing together. In addition, he also uses grappling ropes to quickly maneuver around the arena and in some of his attacks and fatality.
Enigmatic Minion: To Daegon, as while we know Mavado is a schemer and shares a rivalry with Kabal, not much is known about him otherwise. His Armageddon ending has him Take Over the World, that's about it.
Foil: Could be considered one to Kano. Whereas Kano seems to rely mainly on scare tactics and brute force, Mavado values discipline, superior intelligence, and good strategy to win a fight and enforces this among his men.
The Ghost: An intro between Li Mei and Kitana in MK1 has the former mention that Mavado is running loose in the streets of Sun Do.
Grappling-Hook Pistol: Mavado's special moves have him using a pair of grappling hooks to maneuver across the battle field, either evading the enemy's attacks or closing the distance.
Hidden Depths: In the comics for his short appearance, he is shown to be fairly serious and cunning. For Kabal in a Mirror Match to think that Mavodo would pose as himself and try to convince him that he's another Kabal from another timeline suggests a more ridiculous nature about him and their rivalry.
Hooks and Crooks: Dual Wielding hookswords he stole from Kabal, in fact. Armageddon and X suggests that he has his own pair as well.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Is gutted by his own sword by Cassie Cage in the MKX comic series.
Hunk: At the very least, he has the muscles down pat, for sure.
Improbable Weapon User: He utilizes grappling hooks in combination with his hook swords
Irony: In the previous timeline, he attempted to kill Kabal with his own weapons. In the new timeline, he gets killed by Cassie Cage with his own weapons.
Meaningful Name: His name is close to the Spanish word Malvado, which means evil.
Mistaken Identity: A mirror match in Mortal Kombat 11 has Kabal mistaking the other for Mavado. Despite saying he is simply an alternate version of him, the accusing Kabal firmly believes it is Mavado.
No Honor Among Thieves: After Kano abandons Erron Black to his fate at the hands of the Red Dragon, Mavado asks him what did he expect out of a crime organization.
Mavado: Come on Black, what do you expect when you deal with devils?
Red and Black and Evil All Over: A dark-haired thug who wears an outfit with these colors in his primary outfit.
Stance System: The fighting styles in Deadly Alliance he has are Long Fist and Wing Chun. He keeps the former in Armageddon.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: His height is unknown, but Mavado certainly has the looks and dark hair color to fit.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He gets a bit more screen time in the X comics than Hsu Hao, but he is quickly killed not long after his introduction.

Nitara

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat 1 (Megan Fox, English and face model, Cristina Valenzuela, in-game noises; Ginette Zavala, Latin American Spanish)

Non-game appearances: Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, Mortal Kombat (2021) (Mel Jarnson)

Nitara is introduced as a vampire who spent ages in Outworld trying to find a mystical orb that would separate Outworld from her home realm of Vaeternus. The orb however was submerged under molten lava and inaccessible to her. A chance encounter with Cyrax improved he fortunes, and she began work on manipulating the cyborg ninja to achieve her goals. She first met with a mentally deranged Reptile, who pledged his service to her after presenting a sword from Reptile's home realm Zaterra. She manipulated Reptile into attacking Cyrax and destroy his only means of traversing the realms. After Reptile fled from Cyrax bombs, Nitara approached Cyrax with a deal: obtain the orb from the lava, and she will send him back to Earthrealm. Both held up their end of the bargain, and they were sent back to their respective realms and Vaeternus was separated from Outworld.

The peace was short lived, as soon after, many vampires in the realm were slaughtered. The marks of the wounds were discovered to orignate from a weapon that was wielded by the demon Ashrah. Nitara, as ordered by her superiors, joined the Battle of Armageddon to slay Ashrah once and for all.

In the rebooted timeline, she has yet to make an appearance, however: It is revealed by Quan Chi that the blood magic that was turning everyone Brainwashed and Crazy is hers. Whether this is because she is allied with the sorceror or was forced to give him the spell is yet to be seen.

Ultimately, Nitara does not appear or have any sort of major presence in the events of the 2nd timeline. In the 3rd timeline created by Fire God Liu Kang, however, she finally makes her playable return to the series after 17 years, where she once again serves as a rival to Ashrah. In the New Era, Nitara's home realm of Vaeternus still exists, and has not been subsumed into Outworld. The vampire race fed on the blood of other Vaeternian creatures to survive and were able to build a great society. However, their comfortable lives led to stagnation and shortsightedness. Eventually, they ended up becoming the dominant species on the planet...by devouring all other life in the realm to the point of extinction. Now faced with the crisis of a dwindling resource of survival and her realm's collapse, Nitara makes the difficult decision to branch out into other realms to save her people.

Abled in the Adaptation: She does not wear an eye patch in 1.
Amazonian Beauty: Just look at her abs in Deadly Alliance and Armageddon. She’s comparatively more slender in 1.
Animal-Themed Fighting Style: She uses Leopard Kung Fu in Deadly Alliance and Armageddon.
Anti-Villain: While it's not clear how noble she actually is, she is seen siding with the Forces of Darkness in the final battle, and manipulated both Cyrax and Reptile in a Batman Gambit to restore her broken realm. On the "anti" side of the spectrum, she makes good on her promise of returning Cyrax to his own realm once he finished helping her, although did not give the same treatment for Reptile.
Bloody Murder: One of her moves include spitting toxic blood at the opponent.
Breast Plate: Both of her outfits have wear what is basically an armored bikini and little else.
The Cameo: Nitara appears in the animated Mortal Kombat: Scorpion's Revenge movie on Shang Tsung's island several times.
Combat Stilettos: Her primary outfit.
Cute Little Fangs: Justified since she's a vampire. Though, they're not so cute when she is burrowing them deep into your neck in her fatality.
Daywalking Vampire: Nitara freely walks in the sun. It is explained that only Earthrealm's sun is hazardous to vampires, so she can freely move on Outworld and other worlds during the daytime.
Eyepatch of Power: Her headband covers her left eye.
Femme Fatale: Subverted. Nitara is a vampire and dresses very scantily but she relies on her brains.
The Ghost: In the X comics, where it's mentioned that the blood magic used by the Blood Code apparently belongs to her, but Nitara herself never makes an appearance there or in X proper.
Goth: Her secondary outfit gives her ghostly white facial make-up and all black clothing.
Guile Hero: Her goals were altruistic, and she did amiably uphold her end of the bargain, so Cyrax was able to return home, unlike Reptile (whose purpose in life seems to be getting utterly screwed at every moment).
Ink-Suit Actor: In MK1, she’s modelled directly on her voice actress.
Last of Her Kind: She was in a very similar position to Reptile and shows how they are alike to get him to do what she wants. This is subverted by the end of Deadly Alliance after having her homeland restored.
Manipulative Bitch: How she got Cyrax to aid her in the first place, and Reptile before him. Though she doesn't betray Cyrax and returns him back to Earthrealm.
Martial Arts Headband: In her primary outfit. It covers up her left eye.
Noble Demon: While she did manipulate both Cyrax and Reptile to do her bidding, it was to restore her own home world rather than anything sinister. She did hold up her end of the bargain for Cyrax, teleporting him back to Earthrealm rather than pulling a You Have Outlived Your Usefulness.
Old Flame: Erron Black claims to have dated Nitara prior to his relationship with Skarlet.
Ornamental Weapon: Nitara has a knife strapped to her belt. It is never used in gameplay and seems to serve no purpose other than drawing attention to her crotch.
Our Vampires Are Different: Namely they are a species called Moroi belonging to the realm of Vaeternus, a world that was long conquered by Shao Kahn. They are only weakened by Earthrealm's sun, and apparently only wooden stakes and the holy sword Ashrah carries can kill them. Apparently.
Pet the Dog: Despite manipulating Cyrax to retrieve an orb for her (which is used to restore her realm), she sent him back to Earthrealm just like she promised.
Pirate Girl: Kind of hard to see due to the Stripperiffic nature of the outfit but she's definitely designed as one.
She-Fu: Her Unicorn Kick special is the deadliest cartwheel you'll ever see.
Sinister Scythe: Her kama.
Stance System: Her fighting styles are Leopard and Fu Jow Pai. She keeps the former in Armageddon.
Stripperific: Continuing the series' proud tradition.
Tattooed Crook: She has one on her wing of all places.
Teleporters and Transporters: The gemstone around her neck allows Nitara to freely traverse the realms. With a magical incantation, she can also send other characters to their home realms, as seen with Cyrax in Deadly Alliance.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: While she (like most PS2-era characters) became Out of Focus following her debut, her leading Reptile to the cave caused him to become a vessel for Onaga, causing the events of Mortal Kombat: Deception.
Vampiric Draining: Her throw and Fatality involve sucking the blood out of her opponent's neck, with the former actually restoring some of her health when used.
Villain of Another Story: Her goal of trying to free her realm by manipulating Cyrax and Reptile has nothing to do with the Deadly Alliance plot.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: In the original timeline, she aids Cyrax in returning to Earthrealm after his system was destroyed during an attack from Reptile in return for retrieving the orb that will allow her to restore her own realm. An attack that she launched to enlist his services to begin with. To her credit, she does keep her promise to Cyrax by sending him back to Earthrealm. In the New Era, she is trying to find a way to save her home realm from dying, putting her at odds with Earthrealm and Outworld.
Wings Do Nothing: Averted. She actually uses them for quick escape maneuvers in her moveset in Deadly Alliance, but this feature (along with taunts) was largely removed by the time of Armageddon.

Moloch

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Known more for his size than his intellect, Moloch is a massive, lumbering Oni originally from the Netherrealm carrying a massive chained orb. During Quan Chi's escape from Scorpion in the Neatherrealm, the sorcerer ran across Moloch and his fellow demon Drahmin with an offer: freedom from the Neatherrealm if they protect Quan Chi. Both took up the bargain, but when time came to escape through a portal, Quan Chi bailed on them, and the resulting jumping into the portal brought them to Outworld instead.

After a couple of misadventures encountering Cyrax and Li Mei, the Oni duo came across Shang Tsung, who took them as fearsome warriors and an insurance policy should Quan Chi double cross the other half of the Deadly Alliance. Eventually, after once again helping Quan Chi by hurling a vengeful Scorpion into the palace's Soulnado, the two were set free. They were left unharmed by the ensuing battle against Onaga or they escape, as both Moloch and Drahmin show up in the Battle of Armageddon.

Unfortunately for Moloch in the rebooted timeline, Quan Chi seems to have killed him, and walks around with his severed head as his personal trophy. Although the comics revealed him to be alive and well: Scorpion even gave him and Drahmin Havik's head for torture. This does not last, however: As he immediately tries to capture Scorpion afterwards, only collecting a hammer to his head courtesy of Takeda for his trouble. For his failure, he is executed by a revenant Kitana.

Death by Cameo: His appearance in Quan Chi's intros in Mortal Kombat X is of Quan Chi performing a Decapitation Presentation. He doesn't fare any better in Mortal Kombat 11, being a desiccated husk in Goro's Lair and the Krypt.
Dumb Muscle: In contrast to Drahmin, Moloch is more brutish and simplistic with a reliance on violence.
Epic Flail: The Orb he carries around. And it's really more like a giant bowling ball.
Evil Is Bigger: One of the larger characters at ten feet in height, although this is obscured by his Primal Stance and being shrunk down in Armageddon.
I'm a Humanitarian: Humans are apparently Oni delicacies. In order to keep the two Oni in allegiance to him, Shang Tsung locked them in a chamber where he fed them humans at regular intervals.
Informed Ability: We never see him actually eat a baby.
Killed Off for Real: By Quan Chi in the rebooted timeline. The latter is even seen carrying around his severed head in Mortal Kombat X. The prequel comics show how that happened.
Monster Modesty: Like Goro and Kintaro, all he's wearing is a loincloth.
Off with His Head!: What Kitana does to him in the Mortal Kombat X comics.
Our Demons Are Different: He's a Netherrealm oni, although unlike Drahmin he appears to be a native and is a blue ten foot ogre-like creature with three eyes.
Primal Stance: Which hides his 10-foot height, especially when compared side-by-side with other boss characters in Armageddon.
Red Baron: The Oni Destroyer.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Hillariously, while he is a blue colored oni, he is much more primal and vicious than Drahmin (if the latter is wearing his mask), making him the red to Drahmin's blue.
Revenge: He and Drahmin seek Quan Chi's death for leaving them stranded in the Netherrealm after promising to help them escape in exchange for protecting him from Scorpion.
SNK Boss: Unless you can exploit a pattern, you will hate this guy in Deadly Alliance.
Third Eye: Unlike Drahmin, Moloch has a third eye for no discernible reason.
Underwear of Power: Wears little more than a loincloth.
Walking Shirtless Scene: Like most of the monsters, he wears a loincloth as his sole piece of clothing.

Blaze

"Now face me... in Mortal Kombat!"

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Other appearances:Mortal Kombat: Unchained, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

The elemental only known as Blaze was created by an Edenian sorceress to oversee the strength of all the kombatants of the various realms and prevent a seeming Armageddon. At a certain point however, Blaze was captured by a group of holy men that worshiped the deceased Onaga and corrupted Blaze into protecting Onaga's egg for an undisclosed amount of time. He was eventually freed, but discovered that the kombatants have become too numerous and powerful to handle and that Daegon, one of the chosen Edenians to partake in the quest to prevent Armageddon, was corrupted by a premature awakening.

Blaze then awoke Taven, where, after his quest, he revealed his true purpose to the Edenian. As the Battle of Armageddon raged, Blaze and Taven fought in Mortal Kombat atop a pyramid to determine the future of the realms and Armageddon.

Anti-Villain (Type IV): If you consider him as a villain at all.
Alien Blood: He bleeds lava.
Ascended Extra: He started off as a background sprite in Mortal Kombat II; in Deadly Alliance he was a secret character, and in Armageddon, he's the final boss and MacGuffin, revealed to be the linchpin of a millenia-old plot to prevent the apocalypse.
Bonus Feature Failure: His appearance in Unchained is strictly based on his Deadly Alliance incarnation, meaning he still doesn't have a weapon style nor a fatality.
The Cameo: Appears in the background of the remastered Pit stage fighting Rain in MKX.
The Corruption: Being forced to carry Onaga's egg may be the reason for his appearance in Armaggedon.
- Armageddon's Konquest mode, however, shows that Blaze assumes his DA appearance and only morphs into his Armageddon depiction during the Battle of Armageddon, most likely so that he can be in a suitable fighting form for those who climb up the pyramid and attempt to take the power of Argus. However, his corruption by the holy men is the reason that Argus' plan to prevent Armageddon backfires, strengthening all the warriors instead of killing them or nullifying their powers.
Eldritch Abomination: Though he has an origin story, his personal motives are quite enigmatic and very Lovecraftian in that way.
Elemental Embodiment: Of Fire. Possibly can also be considered a Magma Man in Armageddon.
Evil Is Bigger: He's particularly large in Armageddon, rivalling Onaga in size.
Expy: His original humanoid design clearly takes after similar "flaming man" character designs from pop culture and other fighting games, most notably Human Torch. Internally, he was even nicknamed "Torch" by the developers before they were forced to change it to Blaze out of fear of a lawsuit.
Forced into Evil: He was forced to carry Onaga's egg via being bound by a spell by the Dragon King's holy men.
Killed Off for Real: In Armageddon, no matter whose ending it is.
Living Lava: A fire elemental made of, and even bleeding lava.
Living MacGuffin: In Armageddon, he's the source that draws the combatants to battle over his power.
Mr. Exposition: Explains much about Taven's quest at the end of Armageddon's conquest mode.
Must Make Amends: While he doesn't take any direct part in thwarting Onaga, as that is not in his purview of monitoring the realms and counteracting Armageddon, he does at least help rebuild the goods guys (and soon to be Forces of Light) and relays a warning via Kitana about the impending Battle of Armageddon near the Pyramid of Argus in Edenia.
Playing with Fire: Befitting his name, Blaze has several fire based moves and is a flaming being.
Promoted to Playable: Fans speculated about the significance of the unnamed flaming Liu Kang sprite seen in the background of the MKII Pit stage for years before the developers took notice and made him playable in Deadly Alliance. Alas, the unnamed green-trousered Liu Kang (nicknamed "Hornbuckle" by fans) that Blaze was always seen squaring off against has yet to get the same treatment.
Punch-Clock Villain: Or rather Punch clock antagonist. When Taven, after killing his brother Daegon, asks Blaze if he could just forfeit to him, he immediately rejects it as his designs by his creator, Delia, forbid him to do so.
Rolling Attack: Has a Blanka-esque move where he literally mows you over by rolling on top of you.
Stance System: In both Deadly Alliance and Unchained he has Hapkido, Jeet Kune Do and Xing Yi. In Armageddon he is given his own unique moveset simply titled Flames.
Super-Empowering: His defeat does this to most of the characters in their Armageddon ending, turning many of them into gods or giving them new powers.
Super Mode: His appearance in Armageddon is this story-wise.
Walking Shirtless Scene: He never bothers with a shirt. No point, really — it would only catch fire.

Mokap

Mokap (Charles "Chuck" Golden)

Debut game: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (Carlos Pesina)

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Carlos Pesina)

Nothing much is known about this seemingly normal martial artist-turned motion capture specialist, but he is known to be a master of several styles of martial arts and is hired by Johnny Cage to work on some of his movies. For reasons unknown, he would be involved in the conflicts against the Deadly Alliance and Onaga, and show up at the Battle of Armageddon.

Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: What happens to him in his ending in Armageddon.
Bare-Fisted Monk: Notably, he's the only character in the games he appears in to not wield any sort of weapon in combat.
Continuity Cameo: In Mortal Kombat 11, Cassie Cage arrives in one of her intro poses with a cardboard cup with his name on it, implying he has completely changed career paths. He is also one of the characters who texts her in one of her intros, highlighting how he isn't playable.
Fish out of Water: The most normal character in the game. That he can throw energy balls and telekinetically lift his foes speaks volumes about the Mortal Kombat version of Earth.
The Generic Guy: He's this among an ensemble of diverse characters. His only known personality trait is his constant confusion as to how and why he was summoned to the conflicts he inexplicitly finds himself in.
Gone Horribly Wrong: The lone aversion of this in his arcade ending in Armageddon with his victory over Blaze achieving what Argus and Delia had intended.
I Know Mortal Kombat: After all, he's in the game itself!
Ink-Suit Actor: He is essentially Carlos Pesina (motion capture artist and resident martial arts expert) inserted directly into the MK world.
Lethal Joke Character: Players may be quick to dismiss Mokap as a cheap novelty character, but underestimate him at your peril — he's pretty strong in both games he appears in, even without the luxury of a weapon fighting style.
Light 'em Up: In Armaggedon, his energy balls seem to be made of pure light.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's an in-game homage to Carlos Pesina, a motion capture actor who's with Boon and the MK team all the way back to MK1, alongside his older brother, Daniel. Carlos Pesina even does the motion capture for this character as well.
Non-Standard Character Design: His face is more realistic and detailed than most other characters since it's also modelled after Pesina.
Stance System: His stances in Deadly Alliance are Tai Chi, Karate and Tae Kwon Do. In Armageddon he has Jeet Kune Do and Wing Chun. In both games, he gets an extra fighting stance in place of a weapon.

Characters / Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Spoilers for the original timeline before DA will be unmarked

Bo' Rai Cho

Drahmin

Frost

Tropes related with Frost (human)

Tropes related to Frost (cyborg)

Hsu Hao

Kenshi Takahashi

Li Mei

Mavado

Nitara

Moloch

Blaze

Mokap (Charles "Chuck" Golden)

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Characters / Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Edit Locked

Spoilers for the original timeline before DA will be unmarked

Bo' Rai Cho

Drahmin

Frost

Tropes related with Frost (human)

Tropes related to Frost (cyborg)

Hsu Hao

Kenshi Takahashi

Li Mei

Mavado

Nitara

Moloch

Blaze

Mokap (Charles "Chuck" Golden)

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